Rapidly Containing the First Indigenous Outbreak of Chikungunya in Taiwan—Lessons Learned

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease

Ran-Chou Chen¹  Shao-Chun Huang¹  Yu-Fen Hsu¹  Ta-Chien Chan² 

[1] Department of Health, New Taipei City Government, 192-1, Yingshi Road, Banqiao District, New Taipei City 220, Taiwan;Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road, Section 2, Nankang, Taipei 115, Taiwan;

关键词: chikungunya virus;    outbreak control;    ovitrap;    diagnosis;    GIS (geographic information systems);   

DOI  :  10.3390/tropicalmed6030165

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The first indigenous outbreak of chikungunya in Taiwan occurred in New Taipei City, northern Taiwan, from August to October 2019. This study identified important containment strategies for controlling the outbreak. The outbreak investigation and ovitrap data were collected from the Department of Health, New Taipei City Government. A geographic information system (GIS) was applied for spatial analysis, and descriptive statistics were used to compute the demographic features and medical visits of confirmed cases. There were 19 residents infected during the outbreak. The source of this outbreak was a mountain trail with abundant Aedes albopictus. The atypical symptoms and lack of a rapid test led to multiple clinical visits by the patients (mean: 2.79; standard deviation: 1.65). The clinical symptoms of chikungunya are very similar to those of dengue fever. We noted that only eight patients were polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive in their first blood collection, and an average of 3.13 days between illness onset and PCR-positive results. The improved laboratory panel test, targeted and rapid insecticide spraying at the households and their communities, strict closure of the mountain trail, and ovitrap surveillance for evaluating intervention were important approaches to rapidly contain the outbreak.

【 授权许可】

Unknown